One Last Battle
by TitaniumShovel
Summary: Retired and married with a kid, Link awakes one Christmas to find out that he's being transported to a remote island for a final battle against all the old fighters. But this battle has a twist: Instead of knocking out the opponent, the goal is to kill.


**I was bored so I decided to write this. I hope you enjoy. I didn't include Young Link because of the conflict of logic.**

"Mom! Dad! Wake up! Santa came!"

I slowly opened my eyes to see my eight year-old son staring at me in his favorite, yet worn, blue Power Ranger pajamas that he had wanted so desperately. I rolled over in the bed to face my wife. I shook her gently to awaken her.

"Hannah… Sweetie, wake up. Peter wants to open his presents," I said to her softly.

She opened her eyes and yawned. "Five more minutes, Link." As she turned over to look at me, she stopped suddenly as her thoughts rushed to her mind. "Oh! Merry Christmas, Peter!"

She got up out of bed and said, "Just let me make some coffee, first. I'll make some bacon for you, too. Peter, go open your stocking while you wait."

"But I already did, Mom! Santa gave me a book of riddles and some candy! And Santa ate all the cookies and milk! All of it! And the reindeer came, too. They ate the carrots!" Peter continued to ramble to her as they both walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

I rolled over and sat so my legs hung over the side of the bed. Christmas was always a joyful time of year, but something just didn't feel right. For the past few days, I've felt like someone's been watching me. I shook it off and tried to get into the holiday spirit.

Just then our golden retriever walked in and jumped on the bed.

"Hey Rufus! Merry Christmas!" I said as I scratched behind his ears. Rufus had always been my companion. I had found him on the streets alone, just after my final match at the Super Smash Brothers area, and I couldn't just leave him alone. So I took him in.

Oh, what a match that was, I thought as I got dressed. The championship game. Me, Fox, Captain Falcon, and Mario. I don't think the line-up could've been better. I didn't win, of course; I'm nowhere as powerful as Captain Falcon. That bastard always got all the attention, all the publicity, all the girls. If I could only have a chance to rematch him…

I looked down at Rufus. He tilted his head at me, knowing that something was wrong. But the smell of bacon in the kitchen cleared his head of anything else and ran out of the room.

Just then, as though someone had been listening to my thoughts, my old Super Smash Brothers watch started flashing. It wasn't supposed to. All of the contestants from the SSBM competition received one as a souvenir. I slowly walked over to it and stared at the words flashing on the screen. 'MESSAGE FOR LINK. VOICE ACTIVATION REQUIRED.'

"Uhh… Link," I said skeptically. The watch stopped flashing for a moment. Then all of a sudden, it beeped and a large hologram of a tall, Japanese man emerged from the watch. I dropped the watch in shock, but then picked it up again to listen to what the man was saying.

"Konichiwa, Link. I am Professor Keota," he said calmly.

"Uhh… Hey. What're you doing in my watch?" I replied.

"I am here to inform you that you are going to be taken to a remote island for a final Super Smash Brothers battle very shortly."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. No thanks. I retired eight years ago. I'm done with that stuff."

"I'm afraid that you do not have a choice, my friend. Everyone has to come. See you soon." And the hologram sunk back into the watch. I couldn't lie and say I wasn't scared, because I was. I was scared that this guy was serious. I couldn't be taken for another battle, not on Christmas!

However, I knew there was no fighting this guy. The Super Smash Brothers leaders are too powerful for anyone to stand up against. So just in case I was forced to go, I decided it wasn't best to arrive at this so-called remote island in my pajamas, so I put on some kakis and a light blue, buttoned-up shirt. As I took out my shirt, I noticed something green underneath the whole pile of clothes in my drawer. I reached down and took out my old tunic, looking as new as ever.

"What's that?" said a voice from the door. I turned quickly to face my son and dropped the tunic back into the bureau.

"Nothing, Peter. It's just an old Halloween costume. Tell your mother I might have to step out for a bit, so go ahead and open the presents without me if I do." I smiled at him.

"Aww, really? Okay… You want some bacon?" he asked casually while holding out his plate.

"No, thank you. Go ahead and finish it, it's your favorite."

Peter shrugged and walked out. I sighed and looked down at the tunic again. I wondered if it still fit me. I took out a small pouch and stuffed it into a bag. Something felt thrilling about the gesture. Like I was reliving my youth, about to go off on an adventure again. I went over to my closet and pushed all of the clothes out of the way and opened the cabinet behind it that I kept secret from my wife. Hannah would not be happy if she knew I still had my sword and shield hanging in the closet, for I had vowed to stop fighting forever when I married her. I took out the sheath and strapped it on and then placed the sword in its rightful place inside it. And then I pulled out my old brown belt and boots, arm and leg pads, green hat, and white pants and packed them into the bag. Even if the message I had received was a hoax, it was still a joy to do this routine again.

Then in the back of the closet was my lucky necklace with the half-moon pendant I wore during all of my battles. I took it and examined it closely. It was shiny as ever. I carefully went over to Hannah's mirror and put it on. Memories came flooding back of me fighting Marth and Yoshi in the semi-finals…

Then the watch beeped again.

I turned around quickly and stared at the blinking watch on the ground. I walked slowly over to pick it up, still holding my bag. The watch read 'PREPARE FOR TRANSPORTATION'. Oh shit. I remembered this was the way they would send us into the arena. I braced for the weird tingling sensation that was sure to come, but it never did. I looked down at the watch, which hadn't changed. The suspense was killing me.

"What's that you're holding?" said another voice from the door. I turned to look at Hannah with a smile.

"Just an old watch," I vaguely replied. "Listen, I think I might have to go somewhere for a little bit. But I promise I'll be back."

"Peter was just telling me that. Where are you going? What's in the bag?" she interrogated.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that right now. It's all really confusing right now and I know I can't stop it," I told her seriously. I walked over to her and pushed a few strands of hair behind her ears.

"What're you talking about? Is it dangerous?" she pleaded.

"It might be. Don't worry, it'll be OK," I lied to her. I leaned in slowly and kissed her on her forehead and brought her into a hug.

The watch beeped a third time.

"You have to leave the room," I told her hastily. "Go open presents with Peter. I love you, Hannah."

"I love you, too. Please, wherever you're going, come home soon. It's Christmas," she told me knowingly and smiled. I smiled back and shut the door behind her. I turned around and picked up the watch again. 'TRANSPORTING NOW' it read. And a second later I felt that weird sensation of my stomach being turned upside down and my face being stretched out farther than it should go. I tried to scream, but no words came out. After a few more moments of agonizing disorientation, I dropped onto warm sand and felt an ocean breeze blow by.

I looked around to gather my surroundings. I was on a beach outside of a large jungle. The sun was beating down on my back and I felt like I was on a vacation to the Bahamas. It looked similar to that movie _Madagascar_ I had watched with my son last night. I turned around and saw an ocean that stretched for miles upon miles on end.

"Hey! Link!" called a voice from my left. I turned to look and saw two figures coming towards me. As they came nearer, I identified them as Fox and Ness, my old best friends. We barely stayed in contact anymore, though. We got a Christmas card from them every year, but I hadn't seen either of them for upwards of six years.

"Hey guys! How have you been? What's going on?"

"Well, I've been awesome. My girlfriend and I are living in England, now," said Ness. He was older now, probably about 20. He had lost a lot of weight and had grown out his hair so it was long and messy, but it was hidden under his usual red cap. He was wearing a jean jacket and had long, baggy jeans on with a chain hanging down off the side, connecting to his jeans again towards the middle. His shoes looked worn with age and one was untied. "But I have no idea what's going on here. My watch started beepin' and so I packed my old Yo-Yo. And now I'm here. Can you believe they sent us on Christmas?"

"I know. I was eating breakfast when my watch beeped," said Fox. He looked about the same, but he had aged a bit. His eyes were wearier and he had some wrinkles, but he was still obviously in great shape. He was wearing his usual white jacket, green pants, and red scarf. He had his usual headset on to communicate to his team for backup if he needed it. "And so I packed my gun, suited up and told my wife I had to go for a while. She was not happy." He laughed.

"I wonder why that man wanted us to fight again. We've all retired," I said.

"Well, including us three, everyone is here except the Ice Climbers, Jigglypuff, and Zelda," said Ness.

"Hey, how is Zelda, anyway? Are you still in contact with her?" Fox asked me. I had dated her while we were in the competition, but she suffered some major injuries after I had to battle her towards the end of the quarter-finals. She dumped me in front of everybody.

"No, we haven't talked since the incident," I responded. "But Falco tells me that she's got a nice husband and a daughter. Where is everybody?"

Ness and Fox pointed off in the distance behind them. There was a small outline of a big tent and some figures moving around. "Well, it seems nice enough," I speculated.

All of a sudden, both Ice Climbers, Popo and Nana, fell out of nowhere next to Link and then stood up. They looked like they were in their 30's now. They weren't wearing their usual parkas, but rather they had bright t-shirts on and brown shorts. They were still abnormally short and pretty chubby. Each of them carried a large mallet, which had caused me injuries on more than one occasion.

"Hey, guys," I greeted. "Merry Christmas."

"You too," said Nana nicely.

"What's going on?" asked Popo as he brushed the dirt off his t-shirt and looked around at his surroundings. "Why are we next to a jungle?" he questioned, indicating with his mallet.

"No one knows. We're waiting for Jigglypuff and Zelda to arrive and then that Japanese dude, Keota, will explain everything," said Ness.

Then Jigglypuff dropped from the place where Nana was just standing and stood up quickly let out its cry, "Jigglypuff!" and did a little spin and showed it's microphone. It looked around then started heading for the tent.

Fox shook his head. "I never understood why they let that Pokémon into the league… Hey, let's go to the tent. Zelda should be coming pretty soon, anyway." And with that he set off towards the tent with Ness, Nana, and Popo shortly behind him. I stayed, however. I wanted to make sure Zelda was all right and got here safely.

"Link, dude, you coming?" called Ness from a few yards away.

I shook my head. "No, I think I'll stay here and make sure Zelda knows where to go." Ness nodded and turned to continue walking towards the tent.

That wasn't the truth. I never really had gotten over Zelda. She was my first love, and so I wanted to be the first one to see her. I wanted to be the one she relied all her information on. That sounded a little creepy in my head, but I couldn't help it. Don't get me wrong, I love Hannah more than anything and I would never leave her for Zelda. But with this probably being the last time I would see her, I wanted to make it last.

From the distance I heard a Japanese voice on a loud speaker. "Link, please report to the tent immediately," it said. That was odd. Why would they want me over there if Zelda wasn't here yet? Did they honestly think that I would try and make a run for it? That wasn't going to happen anytime soon. I lightly jogged over to the tent where I sat down at a table with Ness and Fox.

Fox looked over with a concerned face. "Where's Zelda?" he asked.

I just shrugged and said, "Not sure. She never transported in." And before Fox could respond, the speaker came on and the same Japanese voice spoke again, coming from nowhere.

"Good morning, one and all. It's so nice of you to join me. I am Professor Keota and you will address me as such. I'm glad you all brought your weapons," he said calmly.

"Hey, what's going on, man?" shouted Roy from the corner. His hair was shorter now, almost buzzed. He was wearing his red battle suit and had sunglasses on. "It's Christmas, ya know?"

Professor Keota chuckled a bit. "I believe I asked you to address me as Professor Keota. And please do not interrupt. Yes, it is Christmas. I didn't want to be alone on my favorite holiday. I hope you don't mind. Now pay attention as I describe what you are here for.

"You were all transported here because of your membership of the Super Smash Brothers League. I am aware that you have all retired, but I have been watching you all throughout the nice eight-year break you had. You've all stayed in fabulous shape. And I thought it would be fun if you could all come together for one final battle. But this battle has a twist.

"You will all be placed in different parts of the jungle without food or water. Your only companion will be an assigned partner. Under your tables you will find a cell phone." At this point, many looked under their tables and took out a small, blue track phone. "These cells phone can only make one call anywhere in the world, so use it wisely when you are ready. Don't bother calling any rescue team; you have no idea where you are. And the cell phones can also receive messages from either your teammate or myself.

"And lastly, the most thrilling part of the battle. Your goal, unlike all other battles, is not to knock everybody else out. No, your goal is to make sure you and your teammate are the last ones alive."

The entire room gasped. Everyone went wide-eyed, staring at each other, afraid to talk. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't kill my old friends! That was insanity! I looked around and saw that Zelda had arrived and was sitting in the back of the tent with Peach, just as scared as everyone else.

"If you refuse to partake in this battle, you will be killed right now. Are there any objections?" asked Professor Keota, knowing full well nobody would refuse. "Good. When somebody is killed, you will all receive a message on your phone, so you know how many are left. If you lose your teammate, you are disqualified and also die. When there are only 2 teams left, I will transport you to the final battle arena. Oh, and one last thing. You only have three weeks to make sure you win. Otherwise, all the final survivors won't ever leave this island. I really appreciate all of you doing this… You will have ten minutes to talk amongst yourselves." He laughed at his own cruelty and the speaker clicked off.


End file.
